Guy's Books and Thoughts

It is interesting to determine what things should be considered important. Of course the eternal things such as the God should come first.

But I am thinking even in secular or non-faith matters we get things mixed up. Perhaps our human nature naturally gravitates towards a "theology of glory" even in secular matters. I think Harvey Pennick�s LITTLE RED BOOK on Golf caused me to think along those lines. I am not a golf enthusiast, but I thought I should read up on the subject since some of my students are great fans of the sport. It is interesting that Pennick stressed spending the majority of one�s time on chip shots and putting INSTEAD of driving. But people tend to spend more time on their driving than their chip shots or putting. Face it, a driving shot with a wood does look more glamorous than a chip shot or a put. But ultimately the goal is to get the ball in the hole, not to look glamorous.

This same tendency to focus on the glamour instead of the functionally important is probably what cost the Japanese the war, when they bombed Pearl Harbor. The Japanese focused on the battleships and the aircraft on the ground. They failed to hit the repair facilities and the HUGE oil tank. Samuel Eliot Morrison in his books on the U.S. Navy in World War II comments that one wonders if the Japanese hit the wrong target. The answer is yes, the Japanese hit the wrong targets. By failing to destroy the repair facilities, the United States was able to repair many, if not most of the ships destroyed at Pearl Harbor. By failing to knock out the fuel depot, the United States Navy was able to keep its ships running. If memory serves me correctly the authors of the tour book OAHU REVEALED state that Japan cost itself the war by failing to destroy that fuel depot. If Japan had knocked out the fuel depot and used its submarines to keep Hawaii isolated, the outcome of the war in the Pacific could have been different.

Granted one can make a fair and accurate assessment by looking at appearances. But not always When Samuel went to anoint a new king, to replace Saul, he mistakenly thought David�s oldest brother was the one. God said that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Of course that is one thing we cannot read since we are not God. And also since we are finite limited creatures, we can be easily deceived by things that look more glamorous than they really are. You might want to keep that in mind when buying a car.